Hostage
by moor
Summary: Naruto-verse. Itachi x Sakura x Deidara. Her stomach bottomed out. She'd always known he was a formidable shinobi; but this wasn't torture for the purpose of interrogation. It was something worse. 'M' for suggested themes, just in case.


**At ANBU Base Camp, near Konoha's borders:**  
**21:45 hours**

"Release her."

"Not likely, yeah," sneered the tense, deep voice across her neck and ear.

In the quiet darkness of the ANBU camp, Sakura stood as still as she could while the muscled arm constricted around her throat.

Normally such a position wouldn't have incapacitated her, but the clay snake wrapped around her legs, endangering her balance and forcing her to lean back and rely on her attempted abductor had really put a damper on her mobility. The snake constricted faintly around her further, changing from uncomfortable to painful. _Just letting you know I'm still here, _it seemed to indicate.

Several meters in front of her stood Sasuke, his Sharingan whirling in his blazing eyes.

"You have no hope of escape from his camp. You're injured, Deidara," he reminded the missing nin. "And taking a hostage will only slow you down."

Sakura glared at Sasuke and bit her tongue. Oh, she was slow now? She'd had a bad day to begin with after burning out most of her chakra in surgeries. Then Sasuke had been in a pissy mood and taking it out on her already, and now, now, she was damsel-bait? And Sasuke was insulting her skills as a kunoichi and calling her 'slow'? A part of Sakura, a very bitter, vengeful part, flirted with the notion of actually helping Deidara escape, if only to spire her friend and show him just how slow she was, then and there.

But then the snake around her legs hissed and licked the back of her thigh, and her sense of charity fell like a lead balloon, and she went back to planning creative ways of murdering her captor. Slowly, and to hell with the psych eval she'd be landed with thereafter for it. (Yes, that creative.)

The rational part of her brain fully understood that Sasuke was trying to help her, of course, but the more vocal, proud part really wanted to bury him in that moment.

The man behind her chuckled as she tensed at the snake's indecent contact, and she felt the deep rumblings from Deidara's chest through her clothes against her back.

"Not a fan of my little pet?"

"Oh, is that what guys are calling it these days? To be honest, it's so small I barely noticed."

He laughed aloud at that, and… was he hugging her, now, around her neck? The change was minute, but definitely there. She wondered at the shift she felt in its intention, however brief. Decided she must be getting oxygen deprived.

Then he leaned closer, his warmth invading her senses further.

"I can make it bigger," he said suggestively.

"Wow, colour me impressed," she drawled, rolling her eyes at the man who couldn't escape on his own but needed to take a hostage.

"I can make it explode, too."

"As long as you don't set it off early," she retorted, trying to turn her head slightly to glare at the blond. With a meaningful tone, she added, "That's always so… disappointing."

Much to her surprise, he laughed out loud at her.

It wasn't half as diabolical as she'd been expecting.

"I'd hate to make a mess of you."

"It'd pour rain on my night, too, thanks," her voice was flippant and light, in the hope she was distracting him. Unfortunately, his grip hadn't relaxed any.

"Especially when there are far better ways of blowing your legs apart so you can't walk in the morning."

"You're a poet, too. Be still my beating heart."

"No," came the darkly authoritative voice from their left. "Stand down, Deidara."

"Finally," Sakura muttered under her breath, and carefully rolled her shoulders to flex the muscles of her body and torso, warming them. The blade at her throat cut her skin shallowly, leaving a thin red line in its wake, but she ignored it. It was superficial at best.

"Finally, the great Uchiha arrives. I'm honoured, yeah."

Sakura resigned herself to waiting at least another few minutes while they postured and taunted each other needlessly. (Or so it would seem – she understood it was more an attempt at dividing attention so each could plan their next moves. She'd seen Sasuke and Itachi work together in such a way in the past, and had to admit their choreography and wordless communication were as intricate as their plotting.)

Speaking of Sasuke, Sakura noticed from the corner of her eye that he'd repositioned himself since his brother's appearance, and thankfully was ignoring Deidara's mocking 'great Uchiha' comment. Truthfully, she was amazed by the Iwa-nin's brazen attitude towards the Uchiha siblings – few spoke to them in that manner, and she wondered if he truly understood in whose presence he stood. Not to discount her skills and aptitudes, but her focus at that moment was on getting out of the situation without the snake-bomb going off. They were still close enough to the ANBU camp's field hospital that any explosion would endanger those inside. The proximity also limited a fair number of her chakra-based physical attacks.

She hated missing-nin sometimes.

Her attention was pulled away from its' self-deprecating inferiority-complex feeding by her commanding officer's call.

"Haruno—are you injured?"

"Only my heart, sir, that we'll be losing such a fine upstanding nuke-nin as Deidara probably within the next few minutes."

"Oxygen deprivation," clarified Sasuke, giving her an odd look.

She was tempted to giggle at his expression, before realizing he had a point. What was—damnit, was that snake licking her again?

"Stop struggling, Haruno, you're exciting my snake," Deidara murmured against her ear in a decidedly suggestive voice. Itachi tensed as Deidara held her closer against him. What Sakura didn't see and couldn't know, however, was that Deidara had smirked and held Itachi's gaze as he'd spoken, his grip on the kunai at her throat shifting and drawing blood that beaded, trailed down under her collar to her chest. He was taunting them, and had no idea just how effectively.

Or, going by the next action his snake took, perhaps he realized more than she suspected.

Sakura swallowed her surprise and indignation as the serpent nosed upwards, now partially hidden by her medic's skirt.

"Get that out of there now," she growled, trying to turn away again and struggling harder in his hold.

"Nothing too low for Akatsuki," remarked Sasuke, his eyes bleeding even more crimson as his Sharingan changed. "Sakura, try and stay still."

She glared daggers at her old team mate, as if asking how he expected her to do that.

From behind her though, she noticed Deidara's firm body tensing again in recognition.

"_Sakura_ Haruno?" repeated Deidara, surprised. Interest flickered in his face.

Itachi stilled.

"No shit, Sherlock," the woman in question retorted, trying to ignore the smooth, warm reptile scaling her upper thighs. True to Deidara's predictions, it was growing and twisting tighter around her.

"That name mean something to you, Itachi Uchiha?" Deidara hadn't missed the ANBU leader's reaction. "Does she mean something to you? Are the rumours true, then?"

Now it was Sakura's turn to still. Even her heart thudded to a stop within her burning chest.

"Stop stalling, Deidara. Release her and return to our custody," Sasuke repeated, taking a step closer. "It isn't worth aggravating the Taichou, and it'll improve your own situation."

"Deidara," broke in Itachi, but the blond was grinning madly and shifted so Sakura was now leaning far backwards, completely against him. She couldn't catch her balance and growled in frustration, and it didn't dispel her anxiety at all when Itachi's gaze hardened.

"She's the one, isn't she, Uchiha?"

There was something passing between the two men, Deidara and Itachi, then, and Sakura wasn't sure she wanted to know what. There was history there. A very knowing history.

At that moment, Sakura became grateful at how Sasuke had chosen to ignore Deidara's insinuations. Very dangerous insinuations at that. But she wasn't an idiot, she knew there would be a lot of questions coming up once they got through this (preferably in one piece). Because she hadn't missed the way his eyes had narrowed or his jaw clenched at the blond's taunting.

And here she was, stuck between all three of them. FML.

As she turned her attention back to Itachi, she realized his eyes had bled red like his brother's. Deidara must have noticed, too, going by the way he chuckled again.

"Taking this seriously now, yeah?"

He had no idea.

—what hit him.

She hadn't even seen them move.

As Sakura felt he heavy man she leaned against slump to the side, she noted, peevishly, that yes, she was going to hit the ground, too.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the ANBU a few meters behind her who'd sent the tranquilizing dart quickly, quietly, into Deidara.

_Thanks_, she thought as she felt her breath knocked out of her, twice, after her attacker's body twisted and fell atop her chest, cursing.

Deidara landed face-first exactly where she'd least like him to be.

Sakura winced as her head hit the ground, and didn't miss the satisfied huff he made as he tried to move – which ended with him happily rubbing his face in her—

"Get off me!" she bit out, finally shoving his still-grinning off her with her newly freed arms. Her left hand immediately started glowing with chakra which she raised to her neck to start healing the broken skin. She was unsure how to dislodge the snake (without setting it off), and so left it for the moment after shifting further away from its fanged mouth as best she could.

In retaliation, the snake hissed at her and tightened its grip.

Deidara smirked.

"Bang-bang, yeah, Sakura," he said quietly, bringing his trembling hands together.

Her eyebrows shot up as sea met sky.

"Itachi!"

Sasuke's warming shout roused her, and she whipped her hands together to form the necessary hand-signs to build a chakra barrier around her skin to protect her from the upcoming blast. _Come on, faster, faster, faster,_ she begged desperately as she prompted her lagging supply into action.

The ANBU captain had already flash-stepped to the missing-nin, though, torn his head up by the roots of his long, blond hair to force fire to ice.

"Kat…" Deidara's voice trailed off, his gleeful expression went slack. Sakura dared to look up, feeling the snake's hold loosen and slip away, down her legs.

_Thank you_, she sighed deeply, and relief flooded through her.

Carefully she eased herself up and away, leaving the clay creature piled on the ground beside its creator. Circulation was slow in returning to her limbs, though, and the most she could do was crawl a few meters away initially.

She found she wasn't the center of attention any longer, anyway.

Everyone paused to watch Itachi as his hold remained firmly clenched in Deidara's scalp. His Sharingan whirling furiously was the only hint of action in his otherwise motionless state.

After a few moments of cautious inaction, Sakura glanced up at Sasuke, concerned. He shook his head subtly.

"Taichou?" she asked. "Has the rest of the camp been secured?"

He didn't reply.

She noticed Deidara's body trembling, but still the Uchiha didn't react.

"Sir?" she tried again, "Your orders?"

Itachi's eyes never left those of his captive, and as another moment passed, Sakura watched Deidara's trembling turn to shuddering, gasping twitches, sweat building on his brow, his breathing becoming laboured as he fought against whatever Itachi was inflicting upon his mind.

Sasuke's brow creased next, and he walked to his brother's side.

"Do we have your permission to search the camp for explosives, sir?"

The ANBU gathered around them waited patiently, unmoving, for their directions, but none were forthcoming.

"Itachi? Ni-san?"

Deidara's body suddenly arched, and a grunt escaped his lips. It rapidly escalated into a cry, then a scream of pain.

_He's torturing him_, Sakura realized, coldness taking root in her gut and spreading slowly through her body.

"Sir, we can detain the prisoner from here," she called over, and signalled to the ANBU beside her to collect Deidara, in the hopes of distracting Itachi.

The screaming only got louder, and Sakura felt a cold sweat seep from her pores between her shoulder blades, and slide down her back.

While she was a medic, she was also a kunoichi. She understood torture. It was a necessary evil in their profession. Had even employed it herself, as distasteful as it was. But Deidara hadn't done more than hold her hostage that night; there was no trail of mutilated bodies (that evening), no civilians in immediate risk, no imperative information required for a critical mission (to her knowledge).

This clearly wasn't an interrogation. Deidara had been captured en route, due more to his outstanding Bingo Book bounty than any active search and retrieval orders.

This… this was….

Her stomach churned and roiled in sick realization.

By now the ANBU had stood aside Itachi, awaiting his authorization to remove Deidara back to the detention area, and finally, finally, their leader relented. His long, beautiful hands released the Iwa-nin's head to fall to the ground and he nodded in the prisoner's direction; the anonymous ANBU collected Deidara and carried him away.

As Itachi rose to standing he surveyed the group.

"Sasuke, secure the perimeter, search the camp for explosives. Assemble a team to assist you. Report to me within the hour."

Sasuke nodded and signalled half a dozen soldiers to follow him, directing them to pair off and focus on different quadrants of the camp.

The elder Uchiha gave several further calm, quiet orders before turning his attention to Sakura, the ANBU scattering around them.

She waited patiently, cautiously, for him to address her. The ugly cold crested through her veins as their eyes met but she held herself tall.

"Haruno?"

"Sir?"

"Your condition?"

"No serious injuries to report. A few more minutes and I'll have repaired everything that's left."

He nodded once, his focus never leaving her.

"I will see you in the officers' quarters in thirty minutes to review and debrief."

She nodded. "Sir."

With that, he walked off, most likely to collect witness reports and start piecing together the events of the evening. It wasn't going to be pretty.

Because while knowing your commanding officer had the potential to be a terrifying shinobi, witnessing it first hand was another thing entirely.

And while she respected and admired her captain, Sakura felt like the worst was still to come, for her.

Not that she was in much of a position to control it, but…

Her frustration flared as she turned to the wash station to clean herself up. What the Hell had Deidara been thinking, implying strange things between herself and Itachi? It would be all over the camp (and back to Konoha) by daybreak.

She sighed to herself, drying off and tarrying no longer from her next destination: the officers' quarters. Where no doubt someone would be trying to eavesdrop on her debriefing with Itachi now that Deidara had planted that awful nugget of insinuation in everyone's minds. She could only pray they hadn't been able to hear what he'd been whispering in her ear as he'd held her captive. Gods, she couldn't wait for the back-up to arrive from Konoha; she was worn through to her bones with chakra exhaustion these days. She never would have been so careless on a mission or at home. But here, she had no choice.

It was going to be a long, long night. 

* * *

AN: I make no profit from this; "Naruto" and its characters are copyright their original creators and rightsholders.

AN: Another 'old' story I never got around to finishing. Written back in 2011. No immediate plans to continue it at this time. Just posting for fun.


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